Petrology and geochemistry of high cascade volcanics in southern Washington: Mount St. Helens volcano and the Indian Heaven basalt field
Mount St. Helens volcano (Washington, USA) has been characterized by four eruptive periods during the last 2200 years. Eruptive products include a wide spectrum of rock types including basaltic to andesitic lavas, andesitic to dacitic pyroclastic flows and tephra, and dacite domes. The major and trace element compositions of some andesites and dacites are broadly consistent with their derivation from a basaltic andesite parental magma by fractional cyrstallization processes involving the observed phenocryst assemblages. However, the strontium and oxygen isotopic compositions of representative samples of the Mount St. Helens suite indicate that closed system processes cannot explain the isotopic variations. The isotopic rations are positively correlated with one another and the bulk composition (SiO/sub 2/, Mg number, etc.). The vents of the nearby Indian Heaven Quaternary volcanic field erupted several basalt types which can be defined on the basis of major and trace element composition - calcalkaline (low and high TiO/sub 2/ varieties), transitional, and tholeiitic. Several of these basalt types occur at Mount St. Helens as well, but Indian Heaven lavas are generally more primitive as indicated by higher Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratios. The distribution of volcanic rock types in relation to local structures in the Cascade Range of southern Washington and northern Oregon suggests that crustal structure may influence the degree of evolution of specific volcanic fields. Cascade arc suggests that volcanic arc magma evolution does not necessarily produce a continuous sequence from tholeiitic to calcalkaline rocks in time or space.
- OSTI ID:
- 5694029
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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